I am very sorry for the missing photos. I have used Photobucket for over 10 years and without warning they decided to continue to host my review photos from the last 10 years I would have to pay a very large yearly fee.

I am working on moving all of my photos to another hosting site but moving 10 years of review pictures will take a while. The video at the bottom still works perfectly .

I will have the pictures back up and working as soon as I can get them all moved and organized. There are about 7000 photos so no way to get it done quickly.

I have already made some changes so this will not happen in the future.

Thank you very much,

Terry

*Update BangGood has provided a discount code for the DN35. Here is the URL for the DN35 https://goo.gl/8vm4sC and here is the discount code 409cc4.*

Enjoy...

IMALENT DN35 XHP35 HI 2200LM 26650 USB Rechargeable LED Flashlight

Today I will be reviewing the Imalent DN35 XHP35 HI flashlight. The light was provided to me by BangGood.com for my honest and unbiased review.

For those of you that may not know Imalent us a China based company founded in 2010, so they are a fairly new company when compared to many of the flashlight companies. They are creating some very innovative ideas.

In the picture below I did leave out the holster. I will get that added soon.

Unpacking:

First I wanted to mention that the shipping time in this package was the best so far from BangGood, or anywhere in China I order from. From BangGood warehouse in China to my house on the East coast of the U.S. in only 9 days. That is almost as fast as ordering local.

The box is very well made, the light itself rests in a very dense foam cutout and of course the battery is inside with plastic protectors to be sure there is no connection. The other items are in a small box beside the light. The box is sturdy enough to help avoid damage in shipping. Mine arrived with on damage at all.

Main features

Features:

Utilizes the latest XHP35 HI LED.

The lifespan up to 50000 hours with maximum output of 2200 lumens. Includes a built-in USB charging interface

The OLED display can show various parameters. With high drain 4500mAh 26650 Li-ion rechargeable battery

High efficiency constant power circuit will maintain constant brightness

Anti-reverse battery protection

Built-in thermal control module will automatically adjust the brightness output according to the working state and outer temperature

The DN35 is designed with a USB charging system and, I have tested it several times and it works just as it should. I prefer charging any of my lithium ion cells in a charger epically one that just arrived, in fact I like to test it for capacity as well so I charged the 26650 that came with the DN35 with my LiitoKala Lii-500, as well as letting is cycle through the test setting. Capacity is very good, better than the rated 4500 mAh, after fully charging and then setting the charger to test the capacity came out to 5100 mAh.

A couple of things I want to point out before moving along and both are pretty important. First the USB cover while it is sort of attached it does not take much effort to accidently separate it from the light. I call this important because if you happen to do this and then it gets lost you have a small problem. The round nipple that should stay attached actually goes through the side of the head and the end of it can be seen just beside the emitter. Not a problem if it stays in, if you do not replace it you then have about a 2mm diameter hole in the side of the lights head. I do wish they would at least ship an extra just in case of something like that. If you are careful this should not be a problem. I pulled mine out on purpose to see how well attached it is. I did have to pull it out but not a lot of force needed so try to go easy on that.

Second you put that massive 26650 inside the battery tube and screw the head on as firm as you would any other light and notice the OLED is on and working, even the light work find for an hour or so. Then suddenly it goes out for no reason at all and will not come back on. I learned from measuring, and checking then re-checking the threading that to stop this is simple. You really have to put some muscle into it when you screw the head on. Once I figured that out I have had no problem of any kind with the light or U.I. A co-worker helped me solve that. Thanks Kenny.

The board is gold plated copper, I have seen a few that have the Imalent logo stamped into them, mine does not but still works fine.

Here is a shot of the emitter and you can see the inside of the interface for the USB and heat control systems. Below that picture you will see a better shot of the USB interface and heat/temp control systems.

I did clean a bit of the thermal paste out. Just a bit much in places that would be of little or no help.

As hard as I tried I could not find any blemishes on the all metal reflector. The specs that you see are dust.

How it works

The OLED in the center of the power and function buttons keeps you informed of the mode or light level you are in as well as current voltage. It also warns you of overheating.

The U.I. is very simple. The right button is the power on/off and cycles through the light levels except for the turbo mode and special modes.

The left button allows you to access the Turbo mode as well as special modes, Strobe S.O.S. and Beacon. It also accesses the current voltage of you press it quickly while you are in any other mode. If you are in the hidden modes or what I call special modes it will not access the voltage. Even if the light is turned off you can click the left button and get the voltage.

To turn on the power just a quick click on the right button and the light will come on. It does have a memory function so it will come on in the last level you had it in when turned off.

To turn the power off you need to press and hold the right button for about a half a second.

To change the light levels, quickly click the right button, you start at 20 lumen next is 450 lumen, then 1500 lumen, or low, mid, high. If you click it again it will start over at 20 lumen. If you need the turbo function just press the left button, this activates the turbo mode. If you hold the button for more than 2 seconds it will remain in that mode until the heat reaches a level that activates the advanced temperature control module This happens at around 50 degrees C or 122 degrees F.

If this happens you will see the overheat symbol in the OLED and it will decrease the light to a 900 lumen output.

If the light is turned off and you need to access the turbo mode, just press and hold the left button for 2 seconds.

To access special modes- just double click the left button. This works even if the light is turned off. Double click once for Strobe double click again for S.O.S and again for Beacon. To leave any of these modes including turbo just click the right button and you go back to the light level you were last on.

My thoughts on overall performance:

The machining work is very good, everything fits very snug. You do not hear anything rattling around it is solid. Even as small as it is when you are holding it you can feel how solid from the weight.

The fit and finish were as good as any I have seen Black except for the tail cap which is that medium bluish almost an aqua. (which does not come off by the way)

Short distance beam shot.

This light throws as well or better than any I have owned or tested. Better than any I currently own for sure.

The levels are pretty well spaced out, 20 lumens are just enough to see most things close by or if you just need a little extra light. 450 lumens is where I leave the one I have been testing parked. It is just a good all-around level for most things I need. When you actually see how well it throws a tight beam at 450 lumens is plenty of light.

Having the most fun with it was people seeing it in the 450-lumen setting and then clicking turbo and just straight to 2200 lumen, I found it closer to 1800 as you use the light. It looks like a massive jump when it is dark out. I am always surprised just how many people have never seen even a 1000 lumen flashlight. You can imagine how much fun it is going from 450 to turbo and see their faces.

The actual distance of throw I just have no way of testing. I do not have anywhere with that much open space at that distance.

I normally show distances of 30 to about 100 yards when reviewing a light, I probably will with this light as well just to show how short those distances are for a good thrower.

The 1500 lumen setting is good when you need a lot of light and keep the light cool enough for turbo if needed.

One problem I have is in the dark, the buttons are hard to locate, I think future versions of this light will address that. I know has been discussed but I have no idea what the outcome will be.

It has a tight narrow beam designed for throwing which it does very well. Even on lower settings the throw is good.

I have read a few reviews from other countries (did not see one from the U.S. at the time) talking about the problems I mentioned about the light just stops working. Mine did the same thing, I would have to unscrew the head and screw it on again to get it working. A Co-worker and I were talking about it so we got out the calipers and started measuring. All we could find were 2 things, either the spring was just a little too short or maybe it needed just a tiny bit more threading for the head. Kenny my co-worker is a pretty big guy. I looked up and he had screwed the head on and muscled it just a tiny bit, I think it came to about a 1mm difference. This solved that problem, that was 4 days ago, and I have not had it happen again. After some use, I am sure it will much easier. Everything needs time to break in a little.

Final thoughts:

Imalent is coming out with some very innovative designs and advanced features. Many of these are in smaller lights just around 4 and half inches long. That is a lot to put into a small package and have it work perfectly. Outside of screwing the head on a good bit tighter the one I have tested has work without problems.

Would I recommend this light? Yes, I would. It’s a great thrower is a small but powerful package and a 26650 to help maintain and provide that power.

It is built like a little tank, very solid.

Happy to answer any questions that I can.

I am including a couple of videos of some distance beam shots. I am sorry that the exposure is not nearly as good as it should be. I had very little time to get that.

It could have been much better. I've lived in the south all my life and the bugs at night still drive me nuts.

Also my wife will not let me take her camera out on a feild trip. If I had her camera out there you could have seen much better.

We have a spot where I work that I have asked for permission to use. It is a solid white wall almost as large as an old drive in theater. If they let me I plan to mark it off for simple measurements. Already enough room for 200 plus yards. Hope to have that one day next week.

I’ve got two observation regarding DN70 but possibly DN35:
- the threads are lubricated with some non-conductive substance, maybe vaseline? You don’t need to use your force just clean them (and the PCB).
- if you want to switch from mid to low directly, simply unscrew the head and screw it again – this flashlight (DN70) always starts with low.

I welcome anything that anyone has noticed or found about this light as well as the DN70. They both seem to have some small bugs most of which I have found that people have already figured out what it causing the problem, just like the one you pointed out.

I have a DN70 that should be here on Monday or Tuesday, I am curious to see what if any differences I may find. The lights are identical except for the emitter and reflectors.

I do know for sure that both DN35's I have did have very large amounts of lubricant as well as far too much thermal paste/compound (only o one of my two) in areas that really would have been of no help at all.

If we can keep getting good input from anyone that owns these two lights, it will benefit us all as well as owners searching for answers.

I like the thought of them doing a Google search and finding the answer they need here on BLF.

Has anyone tried any current testing? So far the way I have found to get those readings I am not at all happy about.

Anyone that has a clamp DMM it may be a good deal easier. I have several DMM's but, the only clamp I have is a Fluke and it is AC only.

I would also like to know more about the 26650 from Imalent. Even on their website it tells you very little. There are some excellent 26650's I would like to try but, I have waited to try and find out more about the manufacturer of the cell Imalent ships with the lights.

I would love to know if anyone knows, or has tried other 26650 cells and gotten better or worse results.

I've got two observation regarding DN70 but possibly DN35: - the threads are lubricated with some non-conductive substance, maybe vaseline? You don't need to use your force just clean them (and the PCB). - if you want to switch from mid to low directly, simply unscrew the head and screw it again - this flashlight (DN70) always starts with low.

The DN70 does not have the memory function the DN35 has?

I just checked the Imalent website and downloaded the Users manual says it should have the same memory function as the DN35. It should turn on at the same level that it was turned off at. Except for special modes or Turbo.

One of the most interesting features of the DNs is the voltage measurement. However it needs checking. My DN35 has a difference of 0.07V at ~3.7V onwards; I didn’t check lower voltages yet. This is almost negligible.

However my DN70 has a difference of 0.18V throughout, except at ~4.0V onwards, where it drops to 0.15V. This is enormous but fortunately it’s easy to take into account because it’s constant. Ouf

The voltage measurement is essential if you want the full high/turbo output. If the battery is below about 3.8V in off output won’t reach the maximum. This also happens with other flashlights, such as the Olight R50*.

My DN35 arrived today. I like it a lot. Functions have been tested and it works flawlessly.
I am surprised at its size, basically same length as NC MH20GT but a little thicker, but twice the output and more than twice the throw.
Can’t wait for the dark.

No, they both drop to this level on overheating. If at all possible get both They’re best-in-class and not expensive with the discounts, so it’s worth having both.

It’s true that there’s a big intersection in usage. I prefer the DN70 for the range it reaches, because it’s flooder and I like to see all around. Also it has more power, which is important for me. Finally, I prefer its tint, which is somewhat warmer than neutral white while the DN35 has a rather cool white. I like cool white, so I like the DN35, but if forced to chose I’d take neutral white in this case, where it doesn’t reduce output.

On the other hand, if you want/need to illuminate far the DN35 is much better. Also its power levels are better, particularly the high one, which is too much in the DN70.

For short distances, say up to 20m, I strongly prefer a very divergent beam. None of the flashlights I’ve seen do it, so I use a diffuser made of dc-fix or tracing paper. It works better with a flood beam but, to my surprise, even the DN35 works very fine with such diffusers; the resultant beam no longer has a hot spot, even if it’s still brighter forward.

Hey gang…. Sorry about all the missing photos… I am still moving 10 years of hosted images and tracking down the image with the new URL from a different hosting site.

This is not why I am posting. I am posting because I found something tonight just by chance.

I purchased 2 Purple Efest 26650 cells for a ThorFire S70S. They have just a tiny pit of a raised top so I decided to try one of them in my Imalent DN35 and DN70. The Efest cells are a couple of mm shorter than the cells that Imalent provides with the lights but the slightly raised top makes up the difference.

I got an immediate jump in lumen output. Both are still under what is claimed but both are much closer.

The DN70 got as high as 3300 lumen only once. That is around 600 to 800 higher than using the Imalent cells.

The DN35 hit 1849 Lumen. That is much closer than previous readings.

I purchased the Purple Efest 26650 cells from Mtn Electronics and the price is as good or better than anywhere I have seen. I know I can trust these guys…